


this earth is burned but I’ll sing rain

by Hirikka



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Book 3: Fire (Avatar), Confused Zuko (Avatar), Crack Treated Seriously, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff and Humor, Hakoda (Avatar) is a Good Parent, M/M, Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, The Fire Nation Loves Zuko (Avatar), Zuko (Avatar) Needs Therapy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-16 03:20:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29569506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hirikka/pseuds/Hirikka
Summary: Zuko might be having an existential crisis, and he really needs someone to talk to—and if that someone is his supposed enemy, well, that’s just his life at this point.Or, when Zuko saves Sokka from being arrested by claiming that Sokka is his boyfriend, it sets off a chain of events that leads to the Gaang defeating the Fire Lord early. Then, their largest issue is the fact that everyone seems to think that Sokka and Zuko should get married; after all, they are already dating.
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 143
Collections: Zukka Big Bang





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This starts during "The Runaway" and I'm choosing to pretend that the Mai/Zuko relationship just... didn't happen

Zuko steps out of the way of the guards who are arresting a teen boy. He idly notices that the boy is cute, blue eyes so vibrant compared to his red clothes.

Wait.

_Blue eyes?_

He turns back, and sure enough, _Sokka_ is being held by guards.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Zuko asks before he’s aware he’s planning to speak.

One of the guards glares at Zuko for a moment until recognition flashes in his eyes. “Uh, oh. Prince Zuko. We’re taking this boy in for questioning: He’s been accused of scamming.”

If they arrest him, there is a chance he might mention the Avatar—or more likely, the Avatar himself will show up to break the boy out of jail, and that absolutely cannot happen.

“Hm.” Zuko crosses his arms. “That’s my boyfriend, so I’d really prefer you let him go.” The words are out before he realizes what he is saying, and he regrets them _instantly_. Sokka gapes at him.

“Oh,” the guard says.

“Uh, well, perhaps we have the wrong person?” one of the guards suggests.

“I would say so,” Zuko agrees, because he’s already in this and backing out now will only cause more problems. “I’m fairly sure my boyfriend doesn’t need to be running scams.”

“Right.” The guard sounds more confident now. “My apologies.” They release their hold on Sokka. “Please forgive the error.”

Zuko doesn’t want them to worry about punishment; he refuses to make his people live in fear. “It’s fine. I’m sure it was an honest mistake.”

“Yes!” The talkative guard agrees; his partner nods along. “Thank you, Prince Zuko!”

Zuko nods his head, and they both bow before turning and walking away at a speed that suggests they would much rather be running.

“Dude, did you seriously just pretend we were dating so you could get information from me?” Sokka asks as he sidles closer to Zuko.

Zuko blinks at him for a moment. He had absolutely not thought before he spoke, but this seemed as good an explanation as any. “Yes?”

Sokka crosses his arms. “Well, I’m not telling you anything.” His expression turns mulish. “So you might as well give up.”

Zuko wonders, for perhaps the 100th time _today_ , what he is doing with his life. He opens his mouth to say _something_ hoping that inspiration will strike, and then he hears Azula’s voice in the distance. “Fine, go.”

“Alright.” Sokka turns to leave and then spins back around. “Wait, what?”

“Go!” Zuko snaps. “My sister is coming, and I really don’t want to deal with any of this.”

Sokka frowns at him. “Okay…”

He drags the word out and doesn’t move, and Zuko pinches the bridge of his nose, contemplating how his life has turned into this. He can hear Azula getting closer, so he grabs Sokka’s arm and tows him down an alley.

“Hey! What are you doing?” Sokka yelps.

“Do you really want to run into Azula?” Zuko hisses, and Sokka goes quiet, allowing Zuko to lead him further into the city. He doesn’t know what Azula is doing in this town, but he hopes that she’ll get bored soon. “Are your friends here?” Zuko asks after a few minutes.

“I’m not telling you that!” Sokka snaps. “This could be a trap!”

Zuko takes several deep, calming breaths. “I had no _idea_ you were in this town; how could this have been a trap? Also, I told you to leave!”

“Alright, fine. I’m leaving,” Sokka says. “Don’t follow me!”

Zuko just glares at him. His head is pounding, and he can no longer remember why he thought heading out to explore this town was a good idea.

He waits for a while after Sokka has left his sight, wondering if this is going to cause problems. He hopes that the guards won’t start spreading rumors because he cannot imagine what he’ll say if they make it back to Azula.

Then, he hears the distinct sound of an _explosion_ and decides it is time to head back to the palace. He wants to lie down for a while. Or possibly forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for the Zukka Big Baang!  
> Thank you to my wonderful [artist](https://ang3lba3.tumblr.com/)  
> and to bisexuallsokka & boomerang for beta-ing!
> 
> Fic title is from the song "No Worries" by Robert Hallow and The Holy Men


	2. Chapter 2

“Did you know”—Sokka’s sudden appearance startles Zuko so much he almost falls into the turtleduck pond—“that there was a crazy old lady using _bloodbending_ to kidnap people?”

“What—”

“Yeah, bloodbending. Crazy right? It was really close to here, too.”

“No.” Zuko grits his teeth. “What are you _doing_ here?”

“Oh.” Sokka shrugs. “One of the guards told me this is where you usually hang out.”

Zuko sits down in the grass—only years of physical training keep him from collapsing in despair. “That doesn’t actually answer my question.”

Sokka comes slightly closer, taking a seat on the bench as if this is a normal thing to do. “Well, I was around the palace. For reasons. And one of the guards recognized me and asked if I was here to see my boyfriend.”

“And you said yes?” Zuko’s voice comes out somewhat higher-pitched than he would like. He thinks it is probably better for his sanity if he doesn’t ask what Sokka was doing so close to the palace.

“Well, it seemed rude to say no,” Sokka says disapprovingly. “Also highly suspicious.”

“Agni,” Zuko groans, putting his head into his hands.

“If it makes you feel better, the guards all seem very supportive of us. You.”

Zuko glares up at him. “Why would that help?”

Sokka shrugs.

“What now?” Zuko asks.

“Hm?”

“I mean—” Zuko waves a hand around the courtyard. “You’ve come to see me; now what?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t really have a plan for this.”

“Seriously?” Zuko hisses.

“Hey!” Sokka raises his hands. “You’re the one who said we were dating!”

“So you wouldn’t get arrested!” Zuko snaps. “Not so you would break into the palace to bother me!”

“Yes, well.” Sokka smiles, unrepentant.

“Did you consider that I could very easily have you arrested _now_?” Zuko asks after a moment.

“What? And disappoint your supportive guards?” Sokka teases.

Zuko isn’t entirely sure how to respond to that, so he decides the best strategy is just to ignore Sokka and hope that he goes away. He turns his attention to the pond and watches the turtleducks paddling around.

“Are you ignoring me?” Sokka asks after a long moment. He sounds outraged. Zuko does not respond. “Seriously? I’m an enemy spy in your palace!”

“It’s not as if you’re getting anything useful sitting in a courtyard staring at me,” Zuko points out.

Sokka makes an offended noise, but then after another minute, he adds: “I guess.”

Zuko sighs heavily, realizing he should probably find out what Sokka is actually doing here. He should certainly be more concerned about it than he is, but he can’t muster up enough energy to be more than mildly curious. “So what were you doing here? You can’t actually be thinking about trying to break into the palace?”

Sokka raises an eyebrow meaningfully, which Zuko supposes is fair considering that he is, in fact, currently in the palace.

Zuko waves a hand, “I meant with like, any kind of group. To actually—” He tilts his head to the side, considering. “ _Actually,_ I don’t know what your plan _is_.”

“Well, I’m not going to tell you that,” Sokka says with a huff.

“Okay, then... Are you planning to leave?”

Sokka seems to consider this for a long moment. “No.”

Zuko contemplates throwing himself into the pond. Then he hears footsteps approaching, and the idea becomes vastly more appealing.

“Zuzu?” Azula calls.

“Well, we’re dead,” Zuko mutters.

Azula rounds the corner and stops, eyes widening in surprise when she sees that Zuko is not alone.

“Oh, Zuzu, I’m sorry to interrupt.” She moves closer, giving Sokka an assessing look. “I didn’t realize you had a guest.” Her voice drops into something that he _thinks_ is supposed to be alluring but is actually just threatening. “It’s wonderful to meet you. I didn’t realize Zuko had friends.” She gives a little laugh, as if it is supposed to be hilarious.

“I’m his boyfriend, actually,” Sokka says with a bright grin. “Wang Fire. It’s wonderful to meet you.”

“Wang… Fire?” Azula repeats. “Well, it is lovely to meet you. Zuzu didn’t mention that he was dating anyone.”

Zuko thinks, perhaps, this is a nightmare. He pinches his arm hoping he will wake up. It does not work.

“Well, you know how he is,” Sokka says, somehow maintaining his pleasant tone even after claiming his name was _Wang Fire._

Zuko stands abruptly. “Well this has been great, but you have to get going, right, _Wang_?”

“Oh?” Azula does a little mock-pout. “You aren’t going to invite him to stay for dinner?”

“No, he really can’t stay,” Zuko says, gritting his teeth.

“Right, yes. Terribly sorry,” Sokka agrees.

“Well, next time then.”

“Yes, absolutely,” Zuko lies, taking Sokka’s hand and dragging him out of the courtyard. Once Zuko slows his pace slightly, Sokka moves his hand and Zuko starts to let go, but Sokka just fits their hands together more comfortably.

“Wang Fire?” Zuko hisses, as soon as he’s sure that they’re far enough away—and that Azula has not followed them.

“What? It’s been working fine.”

“You’ve used that before?” Zuko turns to see if he’s serious because surely he must be joking.

“Yeah,” Sokka says easily.

“ _Spirits_.”

“What?” Sokka asks with a genuine _pout_.

Zuko stares at him for a moment, trying to figure out if Sokka is teasing or if he genuinely thinks that _Fire_ is a normal last name. He realizes that he probably doesn’t know the answer. He starts to walk down the hall again. “Come on.”

“Where are we going?” Sokka asks.

“Out. _You_ are leaving.”

“Aw, kicking me out already?”

Zuko spins around. “Is there something _wrong_ with you?”

“No?”

“Then what are you doing here?”

Sokka crosses his arms. “I told you: I’m not telling.”

“Not the fact that you came to scout or spy or whatever”—he glares at Sokka when the other boy looks like he is about to interrupt—“why are you in here, talking to me?”

“Oh.” Sokka shrugs. “I… don’t really know.”

Zuko isn’t sure if that makes this whole thing better or worse. He turns away and starts leading them back out of the palace.

“I guess,” Sokka starts after they’ve walked for a few minutes. “I was curious, after you saved me from being arrested…”

They reach the side entrance to the palace that Zuko was leading them to—it probably isn’t wise to show Sokka a side entrance, but there will be more people to ask questions at the main gates. “And have you satisfied your curiosity?” Zuko asks.

Sokka grins at him. “Not at all.” Then he turns, stepping away from the palace.

Zuko stands there for several long minutes after Sokka has disappeared from sight. With a heavy sigh, he turns, heading back into the palace and trying to figure out what kind of explanation he’ll be able to give Azula.


	3. Chapter 3

This time Zuko is almost expecting it, although the question of _how_ Sokka knew where his rooms are is somewhat troubling. He’s glad the servants had provided the extra cup, even if he’s trying not to think about the knowing looks they’d given him. “Do you want some tea?”

“Yeah, that’d be good,” Sokka says, slumping down across from him.

He looks exhausted, and Zuko is irritated to find that he’s worried about him. He almost asks if Sokka is okay, but he bites his tongue.

“Listen,” Sokka says before lapsing into silence. He stares at the tea that Zuko passes him as if it holds whatever answers he is looking for.

“Is something wrong?” Zuko asks despite knowing better. It’s so stupid—obviously something is wrong. They are on opposite sides of a war that has been raging for a hundred years. Sokka huffs out an incredulous laugh, and Zuko offers a rueful smile in response. “Yeah, stupid question, huh?”

“A bit, yeah.” Sokka’s voice almost sounds… fond? Zuko thinks maybe he’s losing it a bit, not sleeping well in the days after learning all that he did about his family, about the story of Sozin and _Roku_. They both fall silent, sipping the tea.

“What about you?” Sokka asks after a moment.

“What?”

Sokka shifts slightly, getting more comfortable. “You look like you haven’t been sleeping.”

“Yeah, a lot to think about, I guess.” Zuko sighs. The smell of jasmine tea makes him miss his uncle with a visceral _ache_.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Sokka asks.

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. I’ll have you know, Wang Fire is an excellent therapist.”

That startled a laugh out of Zuko, and, unless he was just seeing things, he could have sworn that Sokka _blushed._

“I feel like I really _shouldn’t,_ ” Zuko says, but then he sighs. “I don’t know. It feels like I’ve finally gotten what I wanted, but none of it _feels_ right. I thought I would be happy to be home…”

“Yeah, I don’t know if I would be happy living with Azula,” Sokka says. Zuko glares at him. “What? Tell me I’m wrong.”

Zuko snorts. “You’re not wrong. It’s more than that though…” He trails off. He doesn’t feel like he should be speaking these thoughts aloud, as if just thinking about it is treasonous.

“Hey, you can tell me,” Sokka says, his tone surprisingly sincere. “Think about it this way: Nobody will believe me if I try to tell them.”

He has a point. There’s not much that he could use the information for, and trying to tell anyone in the Fire Nation about Zuko’s doubts wouldn’t be worth the risk of exposure. “I found out that my great-grandfather was Avatar Roku. My uncle says that it is up to me to redeem our family and the Fire Nation. That _I_ could be the one to restore balance to the world.”

Sokka whistles. “That’s heavy.”

“Coming from the guy who travels with the Avatar,” Zuko points out.

“Well, yeah. But when Aang found out he was the Avatar, he ended up in an iceberg for a hundred years. I can’t imagine it’s any easier when you’d have to betray part of your family to do it.”

Zuko considers this, giving Sokka a suspicious look. “Have you always been this smart?”

“Hey!”

Zuko laughs. He actually does feel better having said it, less like he is about to be crushed by the building pressure.

“Have you figured out what you want to do?” Sokka asks.

“No,” Zuko sighs. “For so many years, I had a specific goal…” He winces when he realizes what that goal was and who he’s talking to, but Sokka doesn’t say anything. “Then I got to come home, even though I didn’t actually succeed. I thought _that_ was why things didn’t feel right. Because I was here under false pretenses. But now, I feel like maybe this isn’t where I should be.”

“Yeah, I can imagine that would be frustrating,” Sokka agrees. “But if it doesn’t feel right, maybe it isn’t. And I’m not just saying that because otherwise we might need to fight you, _again_. Maybe you need to figure out what _does_ feel right?”

“I don’t think I know how to do that,” Zuko admits. He’s never felt so adrift; he’s always had a _goal_ , and he doesn’t know what he is meant to do now. Being a good heir—someone his father could be proud of—still doesn’t feel like it is within his reach. But if he doesn’t have that, what does he have?

Sokka is watching him with an unreadable expression.

Zuko suddenly feels too exposed. “You should go.”

Sokka nods but doesn’t move. “Are you sure?”

“No, I don’t know,” Zuko sighs. “Yeah, I think you should go. I think this is something I have to figure out on my own.”

“Alright.” Sokka stands. “Good luck.” Then he crosses to the window and slips outside. Zuko walks over and leans against the windowsill, as the summer breeze brings the scent of the last fire lilies of the season.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout-out to my wonderful [artist](https://ang3lba3.tumblr.com/) for this project!


End file.
